Wearing apparel



G. J. ABD'ELL June 5, 1951 WEARING APPAREL Filed Feb. 17, 194'! INVENTOR. CEQR GE J. AFWEL L BY v Patented June 5, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WEARING APPAREL George J. Abdell, Boston, Mass. Application February 17, 1947, Serial No. 729,103

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improved garment construction and one of its objects is to provide a waist band unit adaptable for skirts, blouses or other body garments; which: will enable the user of the garment to neatly constrict the garment about the body in evenly distributed folds or gatherings, which will conform to the'folds or gatherings forming by the styling of the garment to the natural human body profile, so that the garment may be readily adapted to the waist girt of the user, and will present the general appearance of a fitted garment.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a garment with a waistband unit, which includes a tubular waist band section which is permanently connected to the styled body of the garment, and strap sections which are partly enclosed by the tubular waist band section and tieable on each other to form a decorative bow knot, one of the strap sections providing a reinforcement for a button hole which partly controls the side opening of the garment, so that the tension produced by the knotted straps will be carried to the closure for the side opening or gap, and distortion of the waist line of the garment will be avoided.

With the above and other objects in view the invention relates to certain new and useful constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts, clearly described in the following specification, and fully illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation-of a garment, shown as worn by a person.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view, showing one of the connections for one of the straps and the bow knot, a portion of the tubular waist band section being broken away, and the view being shown enlarged.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, showing the tubular waist band partly broken away, and the use of the other strap to reinforce a connecting button hole for the garment opening.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, which show the practical embodiment of the invention, as applied to a skirt, 5 designates the main body of the skirt, the upper edge portion of which is provided with the folds or gatherings 6, 1 and 8, and the tubular waist band 9, which unites these folds or gatherings in their preformed condition, to establish and maintain a form styled garment.

The body of the skirt or garment is provided with an opening which is controlled by the separable flaps l0 and II, the flap In being provided with a series of button holes 12, and the flap ll being provided with cooperating buttons l3, secured by the stiching l4 thereto. One end of the tubular waist band 9 terminates with the flap Ill and the other end terminates with the flap H.

The tubular waist band 9 is formed with transverse slots [5 and I6, which are located in the rear side of the Waist band and spaced apart from each other equal distances from the vertical center line of the garment. The edges of each slot are reinforced by button hole edge stitching in the usual manner.

A flexible fabric or other strap ll extends through the slot 15, and is secured at its inner and enclosed end by stitching to the inner side of the tubular waist band 9. A flexible fabric or other strap I8 extends through the slot l6 and its inner and enclosed end is formed with a button hole [9, which is aligned with the uppermost button hole l2, formed in the tubular waist band 9, and which thereby reinforces this uppermost button hole, there being three or a plurality of button holes for closing the side opening or gap of the garment. These button holes and the connecting buttons are arranged in a vertical series, as shown, but it is understood that a greater or smaller number of button holes may be used, and a different disposition may be selected. It is also understood that a slide fastener coupling may be used for closing the side gap or opening of the garment.

The outer end portions of the straps I1 and I8 extend a sufficient distance from the tubular waist band to provide enough material to form a coupling bow knot 20. In tying this knot the waist band of the garment may be constricted as desired about the waist of the user.

The outer and enclosed ends of the straps I1 and 18 extend to the sides of the garment, so that when these straps are placed under tension by forming the coupling bow knot 20, the entire front section of the waist band 9 is drawn taut, so that it is freed of any wrinkles and maintained in a smooth flowing condition to add to the appealing effect produced by the garment.

In tying the bow knot the side and rear portions of the garment will gather along the bending lines of the preformed folds or gatherings 6, I and 8, so that relatively large folds will not occur at any place below the waist band, and the original styling of the garment will be 3 maintained during the active use of the garment. This effect is obtained regardless of the waist girt or body size of the user.

The construction permits the free and easy adjustment of the girt of the garment to adapt it to body changes of the user, so that the garment may be maintained neat and properly styled in all conditions of girt adjustment.

The folds 6, 1 and 8 form three groups of preformed bends, the groups 6 and B being located at the sides of the garment and the group 1 being located intermediate at the back of the garment. This arrangement permits of the molding of the garment to conform to the natural profile of the human body, and styles the garment so that it evenly fits on the user and hangs neatly from the waist line,

The tightening of the straps naturally causes the pendant and flared body portion of the garment to constrict about the body, and this eifect appears in increasing the fullness of the pendant folds, so that the original styling is maintained throughout the life of the garment.

It is quite evident that the invention is applicable to any type garment wherein it is desired to provide adjustable or constriction means at or about the waist of the wearer, such as, for example, skirts, slacks, dresses, blouses, etc.

It is understood that various changes in the details of construction, their combination and arrangement, may be made in carrying out the invention, as defined by the claim hereof.

Having described the invention, I. claim as new:

A garment having a waist band and a body portion connected thereto, the body portion being formed with side groups of folds and an assasee intermediate group of folds combining with the waist band to provide a constricted waist engaging portion, the waist band being constructed with a tubular band permanently united with the body portion to maintain the preformed folds thereof and said tubular band having transverse slots located in the rear part thereof, a flexible strap extending through one of the slots and secured to the side of the tubular band, a flexible strap extending through the other slot and secured to the opposite side of the tubular REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 747,809 Velasko Dec. 22, 1903 929,476 Padernacht July 27, 1909 1,120,814 Hebbard Dec. 15, 1914 1,156,518 Baskin Oct. 12, 1915 1,692,312 Reichel Nov. 20, 1925 1,825,271 Karberg Sept. 29, 1931 1,951,450 Sochel Mar. 20, 1934 

